Boomerang



Oct. 1, 1968 C, H, CLEVELAND ET Al. 3,403,909

BOOMERANG 2 sheets-shea 1 Filed Oct. l2. 1965 F ig. 2

Fig. 4

m am w A LW WL EN. LH C P. Hd MH.. S um RU MH C BUC/(HORN, 5L URE, K LROU/S 7' 5 SPAR/(MAN ATTORNEYS Oct. l, 1968 Q H CLEVELAND ET AL 3,403,909

BOOMERANG Filed Oct. 12, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. /0 Fig/ CHARLES HdCLEVELAND an RUSSELL l? HILL INVENTORS' BY v BUC/(HORN, ELO/YE, KLROU/ST 8 SPAR/(MAN ATTR/VEYS' United States Patent O 3,403,909, BOOMERANG Charles H. Cleveland, 1797 Quincy Ave., and Russell P. Hill, 1221 Westhills, both of Bend, Oreg. 97701 Filed Oct. 12, 1965, Ser. No. 495,069 10 Claims. (Cl. 273-106) ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A boomerang having legs of substantially trapezoidal cross section. The legs are frictionally fitted in a connector, and the planes in which the legs lie are angularly related such that the smaller bases of the trapezoids are on the concave side of the boomerang. One of the legs is longitudinally slidable in its connector to vary the flight characteristics of the boomerang.

This invention relates to boomerangs and particularly to a non-lethal boomerang.

To our knowledge, prior boomerangs have been of two general types, the lethal and the non-lethal types. The lethal type is a dangerous weapon but despite this, certain boomerangs now on the market having lethal characteristics are sold as toys to be played with by children, youths and adults. While there are some non-lethal boomerangs on the market, the ones with which we are familiar have no substantial flight range or are quite expensive or have other disadvantages.

A main object of the present invention is to provide a non-lethal boomerang intended primarily for use as a toy by children, youths and adults, but which has substantial ilight characteristics yet is so light that it is nonlethal even though by chance it should strike a person or animated object.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide a boomerang of the above type which is so designed that it can be manufactured for a fraction of the cost of the boomerangs presently on the market which have anywhere near the same flight characteristics.

Another object of the invention is to provide a boomerang of the type just described wherein the flight characteristics can be varied by adjustment of one leg of the boomerang relative to another leg.

Another object of the invention is to provide a boomerang wherein the legs are essentially tlat, elongated members provided with beveled portions and wherein the planes of the legs are disposed in such an angular relationship to one another that the beveled sides of the legs face the concave side of the boomerang.

Various objects of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. l is a plan view of our boomerang;

FIG. 2 is an edge view of our boomerang taken in the direction of arrows 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an edge view of our boomerang taken in the direction of the arrows 3-3 of FIG. l;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken along lines 4-4 of FIG. 1, showing the construction of the connector of our boomerang;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along lines 5-5 of FIG. l showing the cross sectional shape of a leg of our boomerang;

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing various ranges of adjustment of our boomerang;

FIGS. 7 and 8 show, respectively, elevational and plan views of a person throwing a boomerang of our invention with the boomerang adjusted for high flight characteristics;

FIG. 9 shows the positions of adjustment of the boomice erang employed in FIGS. 7 andv 8 and shows the typical holding position for the boomerang;

FIGS. 10 and 11 show, respectively, elevational and plan views of a person throwing a boomerang of our invention and showing the llight pattern with the boomerang being adjusted for lower Irise than shown in FIG. 7, but more extensive lateral travel; and

FIG. l2 is a plan view of the boomerang being thrown in FIG. 10 and showing the position of adjustment of the two legs of the boomerang relative to one another.

Referring to the drawings, and particularly to FIGS. 1-5, our boomerang includes a long leg 11 and a shorter leg 13 held at substantially right angles to one another by connector 15. Since one principal object of our invention is to provide a low cost boomerang, we have made the legs of our boomerang of wood, and specifically of pine, and of the cross section shown in FIG. 5. Pine hap. pens to be a convenient and inexpensive wood in the area in which the boomerang is produced.

In FIG. 5 it is evident that the cross sectional shape of the leg is that of an isosceles trapezoid having flat bottom and top faces 21 4and 23 and inclined or beveled end or edge faces 25.

The connector 15 may be conveniently formed of a high impact plastic material such as, for instance, an ABS plastic (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene). The connector has a short-leg-receiving portion 27 formed with a blind bore 31 of the same cross sectional shape as that of the leg 13, i.e., that of an isosceles trapezoid, and the blind bore is of a size to snugly frictionally receive and end of a leg 13 so that the leg is held in place by virtue of the snug frictional t. The connector 15 has a long-leg-receiving portion 32 formed with a through bore 33 ofthe same cross sectional shape as that of the leg 11, as is evident from FIG. 4, and the through bore has a size such that the leg 11 has a frictional fit therein sufficiently snug to hold the leg in position but allow adjustment of the long leg 11 relative to the connector to permit obtaining varying yflight characteristics as will be presently described.

It is pointed out that while the bore 31 is shown as being blind, it may be made to intersect the through bore 33.

FIG. 3 shows that the connector portion 27 is disposed at an angle a with respect to the portion 32, in a direction such that the beveled edges of the legs 11 and 13 are on the concave side of the boomerang as is evident from FIG. 3. The angular relation of the portions 27 and 32 has been exaggerated for convenience in illustration, and in fact the angularity is only a matter of a degree or so. We have discovered that the llight characteristics of our boomerang are distinctly adversely affected if the boomerang is concave the opposite way from that stated above. In order to insure concavity in the first mentioned way (or at least to insure against concavity in the opposite way) the mold for the connector is designed to have a small angle between the recesses which form the above mentioned portions. We lnd that a one degree angle is suficient, although -a slightly larger angle will do no harm.

FIG. 6 shows that the long leg 11 may be adjusted from a position as shown in full lines where its right end portion just projects from the connector 15 to a mid-position relative to the connector and from such mid-position to a position where the left end of the long leg barely projects from the connector. The adjustment of the long leg 11 from the extreme left-hand position as shown in FIG. 6 to an extreme right-hand position produces similar flight characteristics, but with one adjustment the boomerang will turn to the left after being thrown directly away from the user, whereas in the other position it will turn to the right.

FIG. 9 shows that the boomerang has been adjusted to a position with the left end portion projecting substantially from the connector 15 and FIG. 7 shows the flight characteristics produced with the boomerang having a high rise and rather good lateral travel, the boomerang spinning (FIG. 8) downwardly toward the user. It will be appreciated that the wind conditions, the manner in which the boomerang is thrown, the angle it is held and the angle of release all contribute to the flight pattern and FIG. 7 is to be understood to depict the general idea of an expected Hight pattern, but it will be understood that the iight pattern may vary substantially from that in FIG. 7.

The best results can be achieved with our boomerang with a quick wrist snap at the time of release, with the boomerang held by either the long or the short leg, but preferably with the short leg pointing downwardly so that during the wrist snap, the short leg will first point generally upwardly at the bending of the wrist and then downwardly as the arm is thrown forward and the wrist snapped.

FIG. 12 shows another adjustment of our boomerang with the right end of the boomerang projecting a `lesser extent than shown in FIG. 9. FIGS and 11 show that the resulting iight of the boomerang results in a lower rise than in FIG. 7 (depending somewhat on the wind conditions, the manner in which the boomerang is held and the degree of the angle of release of the boomerang, and lthe degree of wrist snap, etc.) but with substantially greater lateral travel.

It has been found that the weight of the connector 15 is not critical although the ilight characteristics of the boomerang are affected by changes in weight of the connector, in that the axis of spin of the boomerang follows shifts in the center of gravity of the boomerang.

Having described the invention in what is believed to be the preferred embodiment thereof, it is desired that it be understood that the invention is not to be limited other than by the provisions of the following claims..

We claim:

1. A non-lethal boomerang comprising,

a boomerang member of angular form,

said boomerang member comprising a pair of separate legs,

a connector for said legs slidably receiving said legs with a frictional fit,

one of said legs having an end received in a socket in said connector,

the other of said legs slidably extending through a slot in said connector, whereby the position of said other leg may be adjusted to vary the ilight characteristics of said boomerang,

each leg being of substantially trapezoidal shape in transverse cross section, one face being narrower than the other and parallel thereto, thereby providing each leg with airfoil characteristics.

2. A non-lethal boomerang comprising,

a boomerang member of angular form,

said boomerang member comprising a pair of separate legs,

a connector for said legs slidably receiving said legs with a frictional fit,

one of said legs having lan end received in a socket in said connector,

the other of said legs slidably extending through a slot in said connector, whereby the position of said other leg may be adjusted to vary the flight characteristics of said boomerang,

said socket and slot having the same cross sectional shape,

each leg being of isosceles trapezoidal shape in cross section with the bases thereof on the same side of said boomerang member,

the plane containing one leg being angularly related to the plane containing the other leg in a direction such that the bases of the legs are on the convex side of the boomerang.

3. A non-lethal boomerang comprising,

a boomerang member of `angular form,

said boomerang member comprising a pair of separate legs,

a connector for said legs slidably receiving said legs with a frictional fit,

one of said legs having an end received in a socket in said connector,

the other of s-aid legs slidably extending through a slot in said connector, whereby the position of said other leg may be adjusted to vary the ight characteristics of said boomerang,

said socket and slot having the same cross sectional shape,

each leg being of isosceles trapezoidal shape in cross section with the bases thereof on the same side of said boomerang member.

4. A non-lethal boomerang comprising,

a boomerang member of angular form,

said boomerang member comprising a pair of separate legs,

a connector for said legs 4slidably receiving said legs with =a frictional iit,

one of said legs having an end received in a socket in said connector,

the other of said legs slidably extending through a slot in said connector, whereby the piston -of said other leg may Ibe adjusted to vary the flight characteristics of said boomerang,

said socket and slot having the same cross sectional shape,

each leg being of isosceles trapezoidal shape in cross section with the bases thereof on the same side of said boomerang member,

said one leg being shorter than said other leg.

5. A non-lethal boomerang comprising,

a boomerang member of angular form,

said boomerang member comprising a pair of separate legs,

a connector for said legs slidably receiving said legs with a frictional tit,

one of said legs having an end received in a socket in said connector,

the other of said legs slidably extending through a slot in said connector, whereby the position of said other leg may be adjusted to vary the ilight characteristics of said boomerang,

said socket and slot having the same cross sectional shape,

each leg being of isosceles trapezoidal shape in cross section with the bases thereof on the same side of said boomerang member,

the plane containing one leg being angularly related to the plane containing the other leg in a direction such that the bases of the legs are on the convex side of the boomerang,

the angle betweensuch planes being in the order of one degree.

6. A non-lethal boomerang comprising,

a yboomerang member of `angular form,

saild boomerang member comprising a pair of separate egS,

a connector for said legs slidably receiving said legs with a frictional t,

one of said legs having an end received in a socket in said connector,

the other of said legs slidably extending through a slot in said connector, whereby the position of said other leg may be adjusted to vary the ight characteristics of said boomerang,

said socket and slot having the same cross sectional shape,

each leg being of isosceles trapezoidal shape in cross section with the bases thereof on the same side of said boomerang member,

the plane containing one leg being angularly related to the plane containing the other leg in a direction such that the bases of the legs are on the convex side of the boomerang,

the angle between such planes being approximately one degree.

7. A non-lethal boomerang comprising,

a boomerang member of angular form,

said boomerang member comprising a pair of separate legs,

a connector for said legs,

said connector having a first passage the walls of which slidably receive an end of one of said legs,

said rst passage being :a blind recess having an end wall against which said end of said one of said legs abuts,

said connector having a second passage angularly related to `said first passage,

said second passage being a through passage and having walls frictionally slidably receiving the other of said legs with a fit suicient to releasably hold said other leg in various positions of adjustment relative to said one leg whereby enabling variations in the Hight characteristics of said boomerang to be eiected.

8. A non-lethal boomerang comprising,

a boomerang member of angular form,

said boomerang member comprising a pair of separate legs,

a connector for said legs,

said connector having a first passage the walls of which slidably receive an end of one of said legs,

said connector having a second passage angularly related to said first passage,

said second passage being a through passage and having walls frictionally slidably receiving the other of said legs with a lit suficient to releasably hold said other leg in various positions of adjustment relative to said one leg whereby enabling variations in the flight characteristics of said boomerang to be effected,

the plane of said one leg being 4angularly related to the plane of said other leg,

the angle between said planes being a minor acute angle.

9. A non-lethal boomerang comprising,

a boomerang member of angular form,

said boomerang member comprising a pair of separate legs,

a connector for said legs,

said connector having a rst passage the walls of which slidably receive an end of one of said legs,

said connector having a second passage angularly related to said rst passage,

said second passage being a through passage and having walls frictionally slidably receiving the other of said legs with a fit suflicient to releasably hold said other leg in various positions of yadjustment relative to said one leg whereby enabling variations in the ight characteristics of said boomerang to be effected,

each of said legs being elongate in cross section with one side of each leg constituting a base side,

the plane of said one leg being -angularly related to the plane of said other leg in a direction such that the bases of the legs are on the convex side of said boomerang.

10. A non-lethal boomerang comprising,

a boomerang member of angular form,

said boomerang member comprising a pair of separate legs,

a connector for said legs,

said connector having a rst passage the walls of which vslidably receive an end of one of said legs,

said connector having a second passage angularly related to said first passage,

said second passage being a through passage and having walls frictionally slidably receiving the other of said legs with a iit sucient to releasably hold said other leg in various positions of adjustment relative to said one leg whereby enabling variations in the ight characteristics of said boomerang to be effected,

each of said legs being elongate in cross section with one side of each leg constituting a base side having a greater width than the other side as regards the ight supporting characteristics thereof,

the plane of said one leg being angularly related to the plane of said other leg in a direction such that the -bases of the legs are on the convex side of said boomerang.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 9/1915 Bostwick 46-29 5/1917 Tantlinger 273-1063 

